Looks like she (whomever she is) is trimming this flowering vine. Makes for a good picture to post on this Spring day.
Looks like she (whomever she is) is trimming this flowering vine. Makes for a good picture to post on this Spring day.
This print is smaller than normal. So, I’m not even sure my Grandma shot it. All I can say for some certainty is that it was taken in the late 1920s or early 30s and it sure doesn’t look like Detroit.
Happy Easter from 1946.
Unfortunately the shots were a bit overexposed so I did what I could with them. The older child was my Uncle Bob and the younger boy is my Dad. The two street shots were taken on Hamilton Ave. in Chicago and appear to have been taken from this spot which is along the side of their apartment building. Both buildings in the photo are still there but that cool looking old street lamp is long gone. Also, the street is now one way (opposite direction from the parked car). The last shot was taken on the back porch of their apartment. Whichever camera they were using must have had a self timer which allowed them to snap that family photo of them in their Easter best.
No name but he looks like either Richard or Donald Borowski (see previous photo). I’m going to guess that it is Richard. Besides the shoes this photo really looks like it could be a contemporary picture. I really like this snap shot, and even though I spent my early years in Chicago and this is Detroit, that style house really reminds me of my childhood. Just seeing this corner is enough to give me a good idea what this house looked like inside. It makes me want one.
While flipping through the photos the other day I realized that this was a sister shot to one that I recently posted. In it I had guesses it was Richard Borowski. Well, when I pulled this one out I noticed that in small print on the back in pencil was the word Donald, who so happens to be Richard’s older brother. So it looks like I was right. Now I just need to figure out whose wedding they were all gussied up for.
This looks like my Aunt Marion, but none of us can be sure. It could very well be a daughter of one of my Grandma’s sisters. As for the location I can tell you that this was the upper porch of the Zabowski home on Maxwell Street in Detroit. That home is long gone but the two places across the street survive, though not in the greatest of shape as you can see here in Street View. (The fire hydrant helped confirm that this is the right place.) There are a couple of other photos I found that give a better view of those two houses. This shot of Al Nadolski taken during The War is a good example. This photo is also a good reminder to put some notes on the back of your own photos. 30 Seconds with a pencil could be greatly appreciated by future generations.
The gentleman on the far right is my Great Grandfather Antoni Zabowski. The other couple is a big mystery to me and my family. They don’t look familiar at all, though they probably were to my Grandma.Otherwise why would she have kept, and most likely shot this photo.
They all appear to be pretty dressed up on this day. As a matter of fact, the lady seems to be wearing a black dress. Maybe there was a funeral. Unfortunately I have zero background so everything is a guess. Most likely this was shot in Detroit. If not Detroit proper then at least a well populated area. I’m guessing this by the number of lines on that telephone poll along with the electric lines across the bottom. Hence, probably not a rural location.
One other note is that house. Typically a house of this nature would have columns holding up that porch. Along with that the front picture window would usually be pushed out with smaller sash windows angled back on either side. In a way this home is a mix of two styles. One being late 19th century homes that have the front window flush in the wall, and the other being early 20th century when the front door was pulled well back from the front steps and into the home with no vestibule. This makes me wish I had a shot from the street that showed me the entire place.
My Dad has a vague memory of that train, but he can’t tell for sure if this was him or his older brother Bob. The photo was taken on the back porch of their Hamilton Ave. apartment in Chicago, and being the modern dad the first thing I noticed is that open access to the stairs. You just know that today there would have been a collapsible gate across those steps, especially since they were three flights up.
Oh how the times have changed.
Stanley & Stella Borowski appear throughout my Grandmother’s photos. I believe the earliest shots I have of Stella are from when she was in her late teens, and by their mid to late 20s Stanley was with her. They remained best friends with my Grandma throughout their lives. Some time I should try and put a chronological collection together of the photos I have of them both. It could make for an interesting piece, especially when you think about how you would be able to see them age right there all on one page.
This shot looks like it was taken in the early 1950s, and guessing from all of the other pictures of Stanley, I bet he has a hat in that right hand.
Two shots of my Grandma circa 1929. That would be a guess gauging from her age and the fashion of her dress. While I don’t have any notes to go from on these two photos they do offer some nice glimpses into Detroit from oh so long ago. The one image shows an Orthodox church (that I can’t identify so let me know if you can) and the other shows was a typical street looked like. As for the baby… Well I’m guessing here but I think that this kid is the same as in the previous post, which may very well be Richard Borowski. This was the boy holding the rings at the wedding two posts back.
I recently posted a photo of my Grand Aunt Rita Ann’s wedding to Al only to discover a week later that I had a few more shots from their wedding day back in 1940. These pictures were shot in front of my Great Grandparent’s home. Speaking of which, that is them in the last shot, which is in rough shape because it appears to have been taped down at some point. Besides be a bit beat up the one bonus is that it was actually labeled.
This is Boniface (Ben) Zabowski and unlike most of the photos this one is dated, June 12, 1927. That so happens to have been my Grandma’s 21st birthday. Ben was two years older, and while I can’t say for certain that he was dressed up for my Grandma’s birthday, I can tell you that the photo was taken in Detroit on Mitchell Street in front of the family home. The lady in the photo was his girlfriend Mary Siedl (Cousin Irene somehow managed to identify her).
When I think back to when I was 23 I’m not even sure I owned a sport coat, nonetheless a 3 piece suit. Oh how the times have changed.
These summer vacation shots appear to be taken at the same place as the previous posting. I had no idea where it was shot, that is until I stumbled upon a later photo that has those cottages in it as well. On the back it’s marked Stony Point, Michigan, which is just south of Detroit on the shores of Lake Erie.
Also, these photos are another fine example of why I love summer. This just looks like a grand time out.
After I posted the last photo, and started going through the book looking for the next, I realized that this photo has the same date. Of course I have zero background to go with either of them, but I can still hypothesize… Behind my Grandma (in this shot) it looks like vacation cabins. As a matter of fact, in the photo with the Indian Scout you can see more homes that could easily be vacation spots. Now up on Lake St. Clair there use to be plenty of places like this, which if course isn’t that far from Detroit. So that is my best guess as to a location.
As far as the “Hope you don’t feel hurt, Good Morning.” Well, I can think of a host of possibilities behind that one. Especially when you consider that my Grandma was 22 in this shot, and living during an era when booze was illegal, but in Detroit was very easy to get your hands on.
So, what was going on 84 years ago today somewhere around Detroit? Well for one my Grandma and her pals were hanging out, and she took this photo of what is the visual definition of a good time. Melva was a life-long best friend that has appeared many a time on this website. Sadly, I have no clue as to who Bud was, but I can say that he had one cool looking motorcycle.
This photo is also a good counter argument to the wrong notion that the 1950s were the first time the youth embraced America’s burgeoning car culture. As I teach in my class, that is hardly accurate, and the only reason we believe in that false notion is because of movies and other forms of media. Nope, American Graffiti is just a bunch of kids doing what had been done two generations earlier. And I’ve got the photos to prove it.
UPDATE: Thanks to Daniel J. Harris for identifying this bike as a 1920s Indian Scout. I looked at the scan and in the large version I think I can make out the word “Indian” in their classic font on the tank. This of course just makes the photo that much cooler.
